Amarinder writes to Badal asking to take up Jat reservation with Centre

Former chief minister and All India Jat Maha Sabha president Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, asking him to take up the issue of Jat reservation in the state with the Centre.

In a letter to Badal, Amarinder said, "Instead of politicising the issue and unnecessarily blaming the Centre, you as the chief minister of the state need to make an official representation to the Centre for providing reservation to Jats in Punjab, whether they be Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs."

"It is good that you have started appreciating and understanding the need after the All India Jat Maha Sabha raised the issue at various levels," he wrote in the letter, adding, "I am not sure whether you have been informed about the procedural requirements needed to be done by your government and am informing you that you need to make a formal recommendation so that the Centre may proceed further."

Asking Badal to clarify his stand on the issue, Amarinder said, "I would like you to come out unambiguously on the issue as your ambiguous and ambivalent stand so far has been confusing."

He said Badal had not done anything in the matter, not even said anything, except for blaming the Centre.

Underlining the urgency of the matter, he hoped the chief minister would write to the Centre that Jats in Punjab also deserved to be given reservation in the OBC category as most of the Jats who were mainly into farming were marginal farmers.

"I don't need to tell you much about the plight of the farmers in Punjab as you proclaim yourself to be the guardian of their interests," he said, adding, "The minimum you can do is to write to the Centre and make a proper case for reservation to Jats in Punjab under the OBC category. I want to add for your information that the other states where the reservation benefits have been extended to Jats had also made due representations to the Centre and you must do it.